Aftermath
by MTVCCVC
Summary: How do Bruce and Diana handle the aftermath of thier first big fight?


A/N: Many thanks to The-Lady-Isis for her help and the beta

I've played around with POV-s in this one. I think it worked out just fine. Agree or disagree, say it in a review if you want. Aside from that, i hope you enjoy reading this.

* * *

It finally happened. Our first. Somehow I thought it'd go better, but now that I think about it I don't know why. After all, we are Bruce and Diana, Batman and Wonder Woman. Arguably the two most stubborn people in the entire Justice League, hell maybe even the world. Neither of us wanted to back down and so it all just piled up more and more.

Our first big fight. Emphasis on the 'big'. I can't remember how it began. I can't even remember anything about it. All I know is that I'm lying here on this couch, that she's lying back in our bed and that I can't think about anything but her. Sleep is by no means possible. Even if I could think about something else but her, or of nothing at all, my body woudln't fall asleep. I can feel it. Like a hole, like something's missing. Not something, her. She's not in my arms, not leaning on me. My skin aches for her. Damn that woman, I knew this would happen. But even I couldn't resist her forever. Eventually, she learned exactly where she had to poke me. I can't beleive that thought brings a smile on my lips. I can remember how she finally broke the last of my defenses.

_She called me to her quarters. As much as I hated to admit it, not out loud of course, I enjoyed every moment I could spend alone with her. She motions me inside and enters the code to lock the doors. She wants me to take of the cowl. I oblige and a small yet enchanting smile apears on her lips. But then she puts her hands on her hips. She's been preparing for this._

"_Bruce, we've been dancing the same dance for years now. Aren't you tired of it yet? Let's give it a try finally. What have you got to lose?"_

"_I've got everything to lose, Diana. I don't want to lose you." _That came out a bit too easily—but her lasso was on her hip. Maybe I really was tired by then.

"_So you'd rather pretend you don't even want to have me, just so you can't lose me? You're supposed to be the logical one. Show me the logic in that."_

"_You can't lose something you don't have."_

"_In either of those cases you don't have what you want. So exactly how is either of the two better than the other?" _Using logic against me. She was reading me well by then.

_I say nothing. For the first time though, it's not because I don't want to show what I'm thinking and retreat into my shell, but because I know that there's nothing I can say that she won't have a more or less good comeback for. _

She didn't even give me time to sift through what I could say. That time she took a lot more control over the issue. I was impressed.

"_In any case, you're a liar, Bruce Wayne!"_

_I can't help hiding my confusion. What does she mean, a liar?_

"_You're not afraid you might lose me, that things wouldn't work out. You're more frightened that it actually _could_ work. That you'd be happy. Why are you so afraid of being happy, Bruce?"_

She read me like a book.

* * *

Damn him. Even after a fight like that I miss him when he's not around. There's no point in denying it. Even if my mind doesn't want to admit it, my body doesn't lie. I can't fall asleep. Not like this. Not without him. Even if we were to sleep on the opposite sides of the bed, backs turned to one another, I'd find it easier to fall asleep then alone like this. My skin misses the feel of him.

All of that doesn't mean much, however. We are both so infuriatingly stubborn. I learned that a long time ago. He was a lot of work. He's not much different now, but at least he isn't hiding from me anymore. When I remember that day...

I hear a sound. The door? Is it him? If it is, I'm certainly not going to let him see just how much I miss him, that I can't sleep. I can hardly hear him. I'm tempted to open my eyes to see what's going on. This is Batman after all. He could be fighting Killer Crock right beside me and I wouldn't hear it. What is he doing?

Then I feel it. His kiss, his lips. Not on mine, but on my forehead. My forehead... So he's been thinking of it too. His kiss lingers. It takes nearly all my willpower to prevent my arms from hugging him. I'm actaully trying my best to prevent them from twitching. He'd notice. He notices everything. An admirable feature, if he'd act upon what he sees the right way. When it comes to a fight he always does, but when it's about him and his feelings he rarely acts the way he should. Damn stubborn fool.

His kiss stops, but I can feel him linger. I can feel his breath. He breaths through his nose, so light that it's almost unnoticable. He is not the only one with sharp senses. He inhales a little harder than before.

He's moving away? He's leaving. I sit up and grab his wrist. He stops, but doesn't turn around. He only turns his head slightly so I can see his profile.

"Bruce..." I call for him, not really knowing what to say other than that.

"Diana, let's... Let's just leave it at that tonight... Okay?"

I say nothing. I don't know how to react to that. Eventually I lessen my grip and his arm slips from my hand as he moves for the door.

"Sweet dreams, Princess..." he whispers to me as he exits the room. I recognize the tone of his voice, the way he said 'Princess'. His secret way to tell me 'I love you'. He used that trick when he couldn't say the words or when we were among others.

"_Why are you so afraid of being happy, Bruce?" I ask him._

"_I... I never planned on being happy. I don't even know what that would be like. How can I give you happiness then?"_

_"Bruce, the point is that we figure out how to be happy together. I'll be there with you and we'll make it work."_

_"Diana... I... You... We..." he sighs, hard. "I don't know if i know how to make it work..." His eyes show something I'd never have expected to see in them. A lack of confidence. He's good at many things, but when it comes to his own personal life and emotions..._

_"Bruce, I don't know how to make it work either. But I'm willing to try. Because I know that together we can learn how to make it work. We're both to stubborn to just give up."_

_He's lost in thoughts. I know him well now. I know this might take a while, but since he hasn't excused himself yet, he will reach a decision here. I can be patient for five minutes, but gods help you, Bruce Wayne, if you don't make it worth the wait._

_Finally he says something. Something unexpected: "So?"_

"_So?" I ask, my confusion not hidden._

_He comes closer, takes my hands and asks, "Are we going to try?", and follows those words up dawning a rare smile._

"_No, Bruce. We're going to make it work."_

"_We are..."_

_No more words were said. He embraced me, I embraced him, passionately. We shared a kiss, our lips burning with the desire we could finally unleash at each other. And so we hugged and kissed, long and longingly, unending and unrelenting._

_When we finally parted lips, as I was panting for air, I looked in his eyes. They were full of confidence, the source of which shown in my reflection in them. His smile hadn't waned at all._

_As we were exiting the room, I nudge him slightly and say, "Told you," with a satisfied grin._

_"Told me what?" he replies with a smile, even in Batman mode, with the cowl on, though it was so slight that no one but me would have probably noticed._

_"Told you I had your number," I grin, seeing him react to those words with a small laugh as he remembers what I'm talking about._

_He stops me and puts his fingers on the back of my head, intertwining them in my hair. His thumbs push my tiara up slightly. _I wonder when he noticed the hallway was devoid of anyone but us.

_He kisses my forehead._

* * *

She decides she's had enough. There's no way she can fall asleep like this and she's certain he can't sleep without her either. She goes to find him and does so. She finds him wide awake on the sofa in the adjecent room.

"Bruce, you have two choices. Either you come to bed with me or I'll lie here with you. I know you can't sleep without me any better than I can sleep without you."

He remains silent, so she comes up to him, shoves him over and lies down next to him. They both lie on their sides, her back turned towards him, but still not touching each other.

It takes him twenty minutes to work up the nerve to put his arm around her and pull her closer to himself. The fact that she fell asleep helped.

"Princess..." he whispers as he kisses her hair and isn't surprised when she grabs his hand and whispers back, "I love you too..."

So they both fell asleep like that, at least for a short while. An hour later Bruce woke up. The sight of her in his arms made it as pleasant an awakening as it possibly could be. But this couch wouldn't do, as much as he liked being this close to her.

He scoops her up, bundled in the blanket and takes her to their bedroom, lieing her down gently and joining in. They lied on their sides, this time facing each other. Her face blessed with the beauty and tranquility of a sleeping angel.

He kisses her forehead.


End file.
